


my dearly beloved

by melbopo



Series: the dearest of aus for my beloved [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Wedding Planner, Background Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland, Engineer!Magnus, Getting Together, Jace Wayland is a Lightwood, Lawyer!Alec, M/M, Past Alec Lightwood/Meliorn, Past Magnus Bane/Camille Belcourt, Pining, Sort Of, Trans!Jace, so so much pining, soft soft soft, this is gay af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-02 16:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16790218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbopo/pseuds/melbopo
Summary: Dozens of napkin choices, overdosing on sugar from cake testing, and multiple Gay Crises^(tm) were not exactly what Alec expected he'd have to tackle when Isabelle asked him to be her best man. Maybe this whole wedding planner thing is way harder than he thought... or maybe having the person he spent the past three years pining over as his co-planner/man of honor is what makes it so hard.





	my dearly beloved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Humansunshine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humansunshine/gifts), [carstairsbane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carstairsbane/gifts), [maiaslightwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiaslightwood/gifts), [volna (seductrce)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seductrce/gifts).



> FIRST, massive thank you to my love and dear friend Claire for being such an amazing beta/editor!!! Seriously, I am grateful for every project you help me on, especially when you spot my misuse of veil and viel.... you are a gift!!
> 
> SECOND, this unexpectedly large project is a huge thank you to so many of my dear friends that I've made in this fandom that continuously support me, encourage me, and are just wonderful wonderful people. This fic started as an idea from my dearly beloved's, Ana, tweets over the summer about pining Alec and Magnus who realize their feelings during Isabelle's wedding. So major thank you to them for this prompt that I sort of just ran with... I peppered in other ideas or tidbits from some other loves like Rudy and Rike and Claire and so so many others of you!!! I just, I can't say thank you enough for everyone that reads my writing, encourages my writing, and supports me. I am grateful and so so happy. This little fic is for yall

“So Alec, Magnus. Maia and I have a question for you two: would you do us the honor of being the best man and man of honor at our wedding?”

Alec freezes mid sip of red wine, his eyes going wide as he looks down at Isabelle’s right hand clasped over Maia’s on top of the dinner table, the presence of shining new rings on both of their hands finally clicking in Alec’s head. They are engagement rings. His baby sister is engaged to the love of her life and wants him to be their best man. His baby sister is engaged to the love of her life. His baby sister is engaged!!

The news must be a surprise to Magnus too for he remains silent, mouth gaped open in shock and his eyes watery. Alec’s eyes begin to water too as he quickly stands up, wine glass forgotten on the table in lieu of much, much more important things.

“Holy shit. You guys are engaged!” Alec rushes around the table to where his sister and Maia sit, ignoring all etiquette and judgement of the other fancy restaurant goers. Didn’t they just hear him? His sister is engaged! Isabelle stands up once he draws near, opening her arms wide and hugging Alec fiercely. They sway back and forth, Alec whispers into her hair, “I am so, so happy for you.”

Growing up, Isabelle never thought she’d find love, never thought she’d find someone that loves her for looks  _ and _ her nerdiness  _ and _ treated her with respect. It all changed the day that she met Maia at a Comic Book club and they bonded over the perils of grad school. After their first date, Isabelle snuck into Alec’s room at 1 am, both a little drunk and giddy, confessing that she believes she found  _ the _ one.

Alec knows how far Isabelle has come to get to be here today and also knows that Maia had a similar fear of love. She hadn’t thought their relationship would be very serious at first but ended up realizing she really loved Isabelle after just 4 months.

Here they both are, almost three years later and Alec genuinely couldn’t be happier for them.

He lets Isabelle go from his grasp as Magnus releases Maia. Alec hugs Maia just as tightly as he did Isabelle, truly believing that there is no better match in the world for his sister than Maia. She’s loyal and smart and nerdy and fiercely hard-working and always standing up for what she believes in.

“I’m so excited to have you as my sister.”

“You mush,” Maia mutters back, but her tone is teasingly fond if not slightly watery. “Thank you for treating me like one of the family, always. It really means a lot.”

Alec knows that Maia didn’t grow up with a super supportive family, feeling especially distanced after her brother passed away due to police violence. She never felt comfortable enough to come out to them and while she made her own family, she’s mentioned before to him, albeit it after lots of liquid courage, that she truly feels welcome in the Lightwood family. He squeezes her again, “It’s cause I always knew you were meant to be in it.”

“Mush! Now back off before I get mascara all over your expensive shirt.” Maia pushes Alec back half heartedly, fingers coming up to the corner of her eyes to wipe away any stray makeup, signifying her words weren’t an empty promise but rather a genuine threat.

“Of course! It’d be  _ my _ honor to be your maid of honor or man of honor or whatever gendered language it is since gender is fake and made up anyway.” Magnus finally addresses their original question as he sits back in his seat with an easy smile on his lips.

Alec follows back to his seat too. “I agree - I’m so honored to be your best man.”

“Whew. Good. Now that that’s out of the way, we can actually enjoy dinner!” Isabelle laughs, already looking so much more at ease. She turns to Maia, expression fond, “We did it.”

“And with minimal tears.” Maia presses a soft kiss to Isabelle’s lips before looking down at the menu. “So what is everyone getting?”

“Woah woah woah, you can’t just not tell us,” Magnus interrupts.

“Not tell you what?” Isabelle looks genuinely confused whereas Maia’s poker face still leaves room for improvement, the corner of her mouth keeps twitching up into a smile.

“How and who proposed of course…” Alec supplies, knowing they are being teased with suspicion.

“Ohhhh that....” Isabelle over emphasizes, still playing up her confusion. “It was a mutual agreement while we made tamales one night.”

It’s so lowkey and domestic; it suits them almost too perfectly.

Maia shrugs, “We both had engagement rings picked out for each other but we wanted to talk about it first, make sure that marriage was even something we wanted. Then we decided that we just wanted our proposal to be a quiet moment of professing our mutual love and desire to be together forever so we could save all the rest of the dramatics for the wedding itself.”

“That sounds just the right speed for you two.” Magnus says, head tilted and eyes fond. Alec feels that sentiment deeply.

“It was - it was just what we both wanted.” Isabelle agrees, clasping Maia’s hand on top of the table again. They exchange a soft glance at each other, both with matching wide smiles, and another burst of happiness explodes in Alec’s chest. “And we wanted to take you both somewhere nice to ask you if you’d lead our wedding parties.”

It does make much more sense now that Alec thinks upon it. He originally assumed this dinner was just another bi-weekly double date dinner, as Isabelle likes to call them despite the fact that Magnus and Alec are only friends and  _ not  _ dating. Not that Alec doesn’t  _ want  _ to be thought of as dating or even actually dating Magnus but that’s just not where they are right now. It’s where they never seem to be and Alec is totally fine with that. Perfectly happy to have one of the most beautiful people he knows in the world as a best friend. He’s not helplessly pining from a far at all. Nope.

Regardless, the restaurant is much fancier than any place they usually check out on their double dates. That should have really been a clue to Alec that something more was going on but it looks like Magnus was equally clueless which helps Alec feel better about being blindsided.

“Okay, back to my important question at hand. I need to know what everyone is getting so we have no repeats…”

“Right, right. We’ll discuss your wedding plans once food has arrived like the civilized queers we are.”

They all laugh at Magnus’s joke before looking through the menu in earnest. Throughout the whole evening, Isabelle and Maia steal soft glances at each other and Alec just fills with warmth each and every time. He’s so pleased to not only be privy to such a warm display of love but will be a part of their special day as well. He looks over at Magnus, grateful he’ll be there to help plan the perfect wedding for two of the most deserving people in the world.

Alec isn’t sure if he could do it with anyone by his side that isn’t Magnus.

~~~~~

Isabelle and Maia choose early October for their wedding date which means they have over eighteen months to fully plan the entire event. Magnus and Alec joint offered to be their wedding planners in an attempt to save them money and make the whole event as stress free as possible for the brides. They agreed to the plan… well, sort of. They said they already had most of the planning decided but all the unpleasant tasks that they couldn’t care less about would definitely be passed over to Magnus and Alec.

Which is actually ideal for Alec, because his caseload at the law firm has picked up now that he’s a more senior lawyer and he’s no longer positive that he would’ve been a great wedding planner with everything else on his plate. Instead, whatever Isabelle asks him to take of, he just pawns off on his fellow groomsbabes, Jace and Simon. It’s all going perfectly well until suddenly it’s… not.

Alec simply sent Jace and Simon to check out some seating options at the wedding venue, the Institute, an old church on the outskirts of Brooklyn that was converted into a community center in the mid 2000s and a place Maia and Isabelle regularly volunteer at. Then not even two hours after the scheduled meeting at the Institute (which Alec knows because they have a shared Google calendar amongst the whole wedding party of scheduled tasks) his phone starts ringing with a call from Simon despite them having dinner plans for later that night already set  _ in that same calendar _ to discuss the different options.

“Hello?”

“What the hell is wrong with your brother, Alec?!”

Simon sounds annoyed which is pretty big feat for him in Alec’s opinion. He tries to reference a well known joke in their friend group to lighten the mood, “Well beyond the obvious one of being adopted, I don’t think we really have time to discuss all that.”

“Har har Alec. No, I’m being serious. We were looking at different chairs for maybe thirty minutes then suddenly I turn around and Jace is muttering that he’s gotta go. He just disappeared Alec! He totally abandoned me to pick out everything on my own for two hours and now he won’t even answer my calls. What the hell.”

That does sound pretty odd… even for Jace. Alec shrugs before realizing Simon can’t hear that. “I don’t know to be honest. I haven’t heard from him yet but I’ll look into it. Sorry he left you to make all the decisions but thanks for not bailing too. I’m sure Iz and Maia appreciate it. Also, whatever reason Jace has for leaving, I’m sure it’s a very good one.”

“Ugh. No problem. I just…” Simon lets out a frustrated breath over the phone, his voice sounds tired now. “I just thought we were a team and he left me... with dozens of seating arrangement options.”

“Yeah, me too. I thought you guys were doing great. I’ll see if I can get ahold of him and then I’ll get back to you, okay?”

“Yeah… yeah. No worries though, I just… I hope he’s okay.” Simon hangs up after that.

Alec immediately calls Jace, listening as it rings once then twice then goes to voicemail. Alec hangs up and immediately calls again but this time it goes straight to voicemail. A sense of unease fills his stomach. What if Jace is really sick and passed out somewhere? Alec glances at the clock, it’s only 1 pm which is totally reasonable time to take for lunch. He requests a Lyft to the apartment he shares with Jace, figuring that is the best place to start the search.

Alec all but runs up the stairs to their third floor apartment, relief washing over him when he hears the sound of the tv coming from their apartment door. He lets himself in and is completely unprepared for the sight that greets him.

Jace sits in the middle of their couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in his hand and  _ To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before _ playing on the tv in front of him. He slowly turns his head to Alec, eyes wide and bloodshot with tear tracks down his face. Jace is only about 45 minutes into the movie but it’s clear that he’s been crying, and crying  _ hard _ .

Alec’s own eyes go wide, completely confused about Jace’s state. “What. The. Hell.”

Alec does not expect Jace to start crying again, voice wavering as he sobs, “I’m in love with Simon.”

Alec still feels like he’s missing something, potentially everything. “What.”

It’s like the floodgates have been opened for Jace’s feelings and now they flow out freely. “We were walking around the old church and Simon was making jokes about how he wasn’t burning up on the spot despite being Jewish because it’s no longer a real Roman Catholic church then he stood in front of the stained glass and smiled at me, proud of his stupid joke, and the light was shining through the colored glass on him and he just looked so beautiful and suddenly I thought about him being at the end of the aisle for  _ me _ and it… it just hit me.” Jace cries harder, his words barely audible, “I’m in love with Simon.”

It all sounds pretty normal to Alec, even if the whole being in love with Simon thing is kinda new, but now that Alec thinks about it, he kinda sees hints of it everywhere. “So… what’s the big deal then? You’re single. Simon’s single. And you have a gay brother, aka me, so you know liking men is perfectly okay.”

Jace sobers a little bit at this, “But… but… I’ve been dating Clary, Simon’s  _ best _ friend, on and off since high school!”

“Well maybe this is why you guys never stayed together for very long.”

“No. It’s too weird. I can’t… I can’t do this right now.” Jace’s tears finally quiet and Alec decides that he’s done all that he can do. Jace is pretty stubborn so this is just something he’ll have to sort out on his own.

“Okay, well for all the stress  _ you _ put me through by not answering your damn phone, I’m definitely telling him that you had a sudden onslaught of diarrhea which is why you had to run from the church earlier.” Jace’s shoulders droop, accepting his punishment as such. It makes Alec realize that Jace is more than a little vulnerable right now while having a major life crisis, even if Alec doesn’t necessarily see it as such. “For what it’s worth, I think you should talk to Simon and see how  _ he _ feels about you, about dating. I mean, he called me in a panic after you abandoned him. He’s really worried about you so once you get a chance to get yourself together, you should at least call him back.”

“Maybe I’ll talk to him…” Jace responds hesitantly which Alec knows means no but in a polite way. He sighs as he rolls his eyes, heading back out the door to make it to work.

He calls over his shoulder, “Good luck and there better still be ice cream left for me when I get home.”

“No promises. Love you though.”

“Love you too,” Alec admits begrudgingly.

He definitely doesn’t have time to deal with Jace’s little freak out, especially not when Isabelle and Maia’s wedding is three months away and the amount of things that need to be done are starting to increase. Alec has a feeling that this little epidemic of intense feelings realization won’t be remedied any time soon so he’ll have to pick up the slack. He sighs, at least he can get some pleasure out of telling Simon that Jace has diarrhea, childish sure, but never fails just the same.

~~~~~

“I can’t believe Jace couldn’t handle not being the center of attention for fifteen months so he decided to finally acknowledge his dormant feelings.”

It’s the first thing out of Isabelle’s mouth when Alec walks in for dinner later that night, the Jace of Tears night. At least that answers Alec’s question about whether or not Jace told Isabelle. One thing Alec can check off his to do list.

“I really thought he realized Simon’s crush when he showed up every day without being asked after Jace’s top surgery, making sure he was eating and changing his bandages properly.” Isabelle sighs. “Maybe it was too soon for Jace, maybe he was still trying to settle himself.”

“Maybe. Maybe not and Jace is just a stubborn fool.” Alec shrugs because the answer really could go either way. “Regardless, he’s gonna be pretty much useless until he makes a decision about his feelings. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to slink from my best man duties.”

“I know. That’s why I asked  _ you  _ to be the best man.” Isabelle grins, big and bright, up at Alec, well aware that he is the least flaky out of her options. “I know you won’t let me down.”

Alec  _ is _ aware that Isabelle is teasing him slightly, knowing full well that if he didn’t want to or genuinely couldn’t do the wedding planning, Isabelle would take it back over in a heartbeat with no resentment at all. But the remark feels weighted just the same to him because he wants this day to be  _ perfect  _ and magical and just right for Isabelle and Maia. He feels like it’s the least he can do for one of the biggest sources of support in his life.

That’s why Alec finds himself at a wedding planning venue two weeks later, surrounded by dozens of samples of napkins and tablecloths. He doesn’t understand why it’s so important nor expensive but he’s not here to question it, simply pick it out. He won’t lie, all the choices are a little overwhelming when the only thing that Alec armed himself with is the color scheme for the wedding: black, silver and burgundy. 

The chair next to him at the table pulls out suddenly and an out of breath Magnus plops himself down, the lead for their project hovering nearby. Even with cheeks blotchy red and hair askew from running, he still looks gorgeous. “Sorry I’m late, the train was delayed. So where were we?”

Alec raises an eyebrow at Magnus, surprised to see him when he hadn’t been told to come. The lead, Megumi, politely recaps everything she just told Alec five minutes ago to Magnus, but Alec tunes her out, choosing to watch Magnus nod and ask questions for clarification about prices and environmentally sustainable options, which Alec thought was already taken care of by using all reusable products. He always finds Magnus’s hyper focused expression extremely attractive, how he latches onto something and analyzes it until he understands it, all of it.

Alec wonders what it’d be like to be on the receiving end of such dedicated attention.

When she’s done explaining everything for a second time, she leaves to give them space to discuss all their options. Alec still has one question, “Why are you here?”

Magnus looks at Alec like he’s the crazy one, showing up at places that he doesn’t need to be. “You put it on our wedding planning calendar so I’m here.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say you had to come I mean, or else I would have invited you as a guest to the event.”

“I get email updates every time you make any sort of change to that calender. I noticed you were going by yourself so I deciding to tag along. I didn’t want you to have to pick between three different shades of silver table runners with varying levels of glossiness all on your own. We’re supposed to be in this together.” Magnus shrugs as if it’s obvious that he would never leave Alec to tackle these monotonous tasks on his own.

Alec ignores how the thought makes his heartbeat faster. Magnus is always doing little things like this that show he really cares and pays attention. And every time, Alec falls a little bit more in love with Magnus.

Not that Alec is in  _ love _ love but just like the general principle of the feeling. Not that they don’t believe that men can’t love each other in a platonic sense either for they don’t and actually do say ‘Love you’ to one another but it’s just... Nevermind, it’s too complicated for Alec to parse out right now and especially when there are important napkin decisions to be made.

Instead, he simply nods. “Thanks for coming - I was started getting overwhelmed by all the choices.”

Magnus’s smile is nearly blinding, “That’s what I feared. Okay so let’s see what we’ve got for options.”

Alec watches as Magnus spreads out all the silver and burgundy choices then takes cloth samples from Maia and Isabelle to each one, trying to find a good match. Alec really expected to sit back and let Magnus take over but he still asks Alec’s opinion on every piece. It’s nice, makes Alec feel useful when he is more than sure that Magnus could have handled this entirely on his own.

“Okay, all set!” Magnus declares, pulling aside all the samples they have decided to go with.

Alec glances at his watch, that took all of twenty minutes and he still has another hour before he has to be back at work. “Hey, what are you up to right now? Want to grab lunch?”

“I’d love to. I’ve got about forty minutes before I have to head back.”

“Perfect.”

~~~~~

Now Alec simply invites Magnus to every event on the calendar, knowing he’ll decline if he isn’t interested or unable to go. So far, he’s accepted every one.

They’ve picked out the silverware, the plates, the live bands that will be performing at the wedding, the tuxes, the dresses, the caterer and the food. It’s almost fun doing all these mundane tasks with Magnus, mostly because he has an opinion on all of it and that delights Alec to no end. It’s clear that Magnus actually looks into the event they are going to be doing  _ before _ they show up. Alec’s style is to sort of just wing it and prays it’ll be self explanatory.

Magnus’s preemptive research has saved their ass more than once and Alec is so grateful for it.

There is only a month before the big day and there are only a handful of tasks left to accomplish that can be done ahead of time. Alec’s feeling really good about this whole thing, he feels confident that Maia and Isabelle will enjoy all of the choices he made with Magnus. That’s why when he gets a call at 10 am from Isabelle to attend a wedding cake taste test meeting that afternoon, he doesn’t mind in the slightest. Maia has a last minute important meeting about her research project with the dean and Isabelle doesn’t even care about the cake. She just asks Alec to make sure to pick out one that he thinks everyone will like and that is optimal for shoving in Maia’s face.

It shouldn’t be too hard and actually sounds pretty fun. So after he hangs up with Isabelle, he immediately clears his schedule for the afternoon and calls Magnus to ask if he’s free too.

They meet at the metro stop, deciding to walk to the bakery together. Magnus is talking animatedly about his latest project, waving his hands around and making the rings on his fingers glimmer. It’s early September so it still feels alot like summer which has always been one of the best seasons for Magnus in Alec’s eyes. His hair is freshly shaved and close to his scalp on the sides of his head with the top of his hair bleached and poofed perfectly. He’s wearing loafers with burgundy capris and a tight black short sleeve button up with small gold parrots that shows off his biceps. He looks devastatingly handsome and Alec tries to keep his gay heart calm.

He holds the door open to the bakery as he lets Magnus in. The bakery is familiar to Alec but he isn’t exactly sure why since it’s on the other side of town. Ahead, behind the counter, familiar teal blue streaks jut out from under shining black hair and it hits Alec: he’s at his ex’s bakery, Sweet Buns. His ex who happens to be a good friend of Isabelle’s too so of course she would go to her friend for a wedding cake.

“Meliorn!” Magnus greets enthusiastically. “I didn’t realize your business was a  _ bakery _ . I’m even more excited for this wedding cake taste testing now.”

Meliorn turns around at the mention of his name, a phone tucked under his ear as he takes an order no doubt. He grins warmly at Magnus before raising a surprised eyebrow at Alec’s presence. It’s not like they ended on bad terms but Alec hasn’t really seen Meliorn in small settings since they broke up, even though it was a mutual decision.

“Did you know Alec?” Magnus turns to Alec, who blushes at the innocent question, suddenly frozen on the spot as memories of making out in the back flood the forefront of his mind.

“Of course, we’d meet up here sometimes for dinner when we were dating.” Meliorn answers after he hangs up the phone, casual as the sky is blue. 

In a way it should be casual because they are still friendly with each other, they ended on good terms and everything. But Alec feels embarrassed just the same for he knows he wasn’t a super great boyfriend at the time and doesn’t really want Magnus to know. Not because Alec wants Magnus to think he isn’t boyfriend material but just... cause.

Magnus’s eyes go comically wide at that reveal and Alec is actually surprised Magnus didn’t already know since they do share a friend group and all. But they don’t really talk about their relationships in great detail even though he’s known Alec for about five years now, ever since Isabelle declared Magnus as her mentor and introduced him to her entire social circle.

When they first met, Magnus was actually in a relationship with someone named Camille. And Alec doesn’t know a whole lot but he does know the relationship did not end well and left Magnus broken hearted and emotionally devastated. Over time, Magnus spent lots of time and energy in healing. And in the past couple of years, he became even closer with Alec, closer beyond their relationship of mentor to his baby sister.

By the time Magnus was ready and interested to start dating again, they were really, really good friends. The fear of destroying that relationship petrifies Alec so he vowed to ignore all of his romantic feelings for Magnus, putting more of an emphasis on their platonic bond while still appreciating the physical beauty that is Magnus. He hasn’t seriously dated anyone in the three years since Camille. Sure, he’s been on a couple of dates and had a couple of short flings but nothing ever lasts over a month. It doesn’t seem to bother him though.

Alec’s in the same boat too, having his fair share of brief relationships, like his two month stint with Meliorn, but nothing more. Alec doesn’t try to think too hard about it because he knows down that way is dangerous territory and without concrete evidence from Magnus that he too wants something more and solid with Alec, then he’ll continue to ignore it.

“We dated for a couple of months just over a year ago,” Alec answers to Magnus’s unasked question, shrugging as if to play it off as no biggie just the same as Meliorn. Plus, Alec knows that Meliorn is happily taken and smitten with his boyfriend, Raphael.

“What’s Alec like in a relationship?” Magnus asks, looking towards Meliorn with glee. “I thought I’d never meet any of his exes.”

Meliorn looks over at Alec with a smirk and a pointedly raised eyebrow. Alec groans internally, unsure of whatever it is that is going to come out of Meliorn’s mouth right now. “Great in bed but extremely emotionally distant.”

Alec snorts out a laugh, somehow expecting Meliorn to share something way worse, even though being emotionally distant is the best way to describe Alec in relationships.

He struggles to connect on an emotional level with his partners and it bothers them to no limit. It’s hard to admit it to himself, but it bothers him too. It always feels like they don’t know him and what he likes nor does it seem that they  _ care to  _ know… especially not as well as… well, as well as Magnus does. An absurdly high standard to compare potential partners to when a. they’ve known each other for five years and b. someone that is theoretically attainable but that scares Alec.

“Emotionally distant, eh?” Magnus laughs too, looking over at Alec, making him feel vulnerable and invisible all at once. Perhaps Magnus is remembering all their late night conversations where they discussed their fears, dreams, and vulnerabilities. 

Meliorn watches the two of them with intrigue written all over his face. He playfully raises his eyebrows multiple times when he catches Alec’s gaze. He doesn’t know exactly what that expression is for, but Alec does know he wants the ground to swallow him whole.

“While I’m sure it’s amusing to discuss my romantic history, I’m pretty sure we’re here cause you have a shit ton of of cakes for us to vote upon for the big day.” Alec quickly changes the subject back to the actual task at hand.

“Fine. I guess cake is a solid substitution to gossiping about you.” Magnus pretends to pout and Alec knows he shouldn't find it cute since it’s at his expense but he fails miserably.

~~~~~~

Alec rounds the busy New York City street corner for a quieter one that the tailor's shop is tucked away on, grateful that he decided to join Magnus for the later tailoring session. Originally, all the suit wearers had a session scheduled with the tailor for that morning but an important research and development meeting cropped up for Magnus so he had to push back his time. Alec changed his as well, keeping up with the whole sticking together tradition and all. Not that Alec wanted to torture himself more with  _ finally _ seeing Magnus in a suit. Nope not at all.

This is supposed to be the final check for their suits but there are still three days left before the wedding in case there is anything major that needs to be fixed. Alec knows that Maia and Isabelle's final fittings are actually tomorrow in an attempt to push it as close as possible to the actual date.

Alec opens the door to the shop, the bell ringing to alert everyone to his presence. He's pleased to see Magnus already there but still in his work clothes. He leans over the counter, chatting casually with the head tailor, Ragnor, an old friend. 

“Hey Alec! We were just talking about you.” Magnus straightens up, hugging Alec close. 

“Hey.” Alec hugs Magnus back. Once they separate, Alec extends his hand to Ragnor. “Nice to see you again, Ragnor. Hope I didn't keep you both waiting for too long “

“Oh no - not at all. You're right on time. We were just catching up and closing out,” Ragnor explains.

Now that Alec's close enough to the counter, he can see the signed invoices. What makes him do a double take is the fact that there is not one but  _ two _ custom suits on the bill. There is only one other person in their party getting a custom suit.

“Magnus, are you paying for Jace's suit?”

Magnus doesn't even look contrite at Alec's attempt at a call out. Magnus shrugs, “I know money's been tight since the surgery that he refused to let anyone contribute to. And since getting him a custom suit was my idea, paying for it is the least I can do to show him my support.”

Magnus says it so simply like it's the most logical thing in the world and perhaps to him it is. But the thing is, Jace and Magnus aren't even that close and still he wants to do something nice for Jace, going an extra step to make sure he feels as comfortable as possible in his role of a groomsbabe.

“I'm glad you brought him here cause he's got that generic Hollywood boy look that's perfect for Instagram,” Ragnor says as he leads them around towards the back to the small changing rooms and the final showing room that has a wall of mirrors. Ragnor opens the changing room on the right and gestures for Alec to get in. “Plus, he absolutely loved the suit.”

That tidbit makes Alec smile as he ducks into the dressing room where his black suit hangs, pleased to hear that Jace  _ finally _ has a suit that he enjoys.

Even though he's well experienced with three piece suits, Alec's only just finishing buttoning the silver vest when he hears the curtain push back on Magnus's changing room. Not to hold them up nor miss out on the sight, Alec quickly ties his burgundy tie into place, definitely not doing his best work he acknowledges as he smoothes down his collar. He throws on the jacket, adjusting the sleeves as he lets himself out of his dressing room. 

As Alec enters the mirrored room, he is completely unprepared for the sight just ahead. Magnus's suit is a deep burgundy like the rest of the bridesbabes dresses and tailored to perfectly shape his toned ass and muscular thighs before tapering out to a straight pant leg. The suit jacket has the preferred flare that all Magnus’ favorite coats have with a slightly higher tapering at about mid waist. It accents shoulders that Alec clearly never appreciated enough before because he did not realize how broad they are until this very moment.

Alec now knows why Magnus doesn't wear suits, he looks beautiful out of them and breathtaking, heart pumping, and sweaty palms inducing  _ in  _ them. His team simply would never be able to get work done around him. Alec's throat goes dry at the sight alone. He's so distracted that he misses the upturned corner of the rug, tripping his way into the room and making his presence known.

While Alec is sure that Magnus missed the whole blatant ogling that just happened with his side towards to entryway, Ragnor definitely didn't for he raises an amused, knowing eyebrow at Alec's expense.

Magnus looks over his shoulder at Alec. “Perfect, Alec, an opinion that I can trust! How do I look? The shoulders aren't too tight, are they?”

Magnus asks his questions as he turns to fully face the entryway. Alec now understands how Magnus finished getting ready first, his black tie lies untied on the collar of his suit jacket. Combining formal with just a touch of casual, making him look like a model out of a magazine spread and not just an industrial engineer trying on a suit for his best friends’ wedding.

Alec's never done well in moments like these, when Magnus looks so good that Alec's brain practically freezes as he tries to take it all in. But in all those other instances, there were other people and friends to fill the conversation while his brain picked up speed again. But here, he's alone.

He swallows as he walks towards Magnus, trying to be as casual as possible. “No, you… you look... good. You look good.”

Magnus grins. “Always a tough critic.”

Alec's brain is now back online so he realizes his compliment probably sounded hesitant and ingenuine. He scoffs softly, stopping less than an arm’s length away from Magnus. “No, I mean it. Though, you'd probably look better with this tied.”

Magnus laughs, nodding permission for Alec to help with the cause. Alec reaches up, practically holding his breath as he ties a simple Windsor knot. Magnus focuses his attention on the process the whole time, watching Alec's hands work quickly and efficiently.

He keeps his gaze down, not wanting his brain to restart in the middle of something he does often. When he's finally done, he smoothes out the tie and takes a step back to admire his handiwork. Magnus's hand reaches out for Alec, surprising him.

Magnus simply smoothes out the fabric around the knot of the tie, offering a small smile “All better.”

“All better yourself,” Alec smiles back, taking another two steps out of the way so Ragnor can continue his rotation of tailoring tweaks. 

“Alright, now you really have to stop moving so I can finish my job  _ before _ the actual wedding.” 

Magnus rolls his eyes over Ragnor's head to Alec. Magnus turns slightly to the right, to be in front of the mirrors again. He smiles to himself as he tucks his tie under the vest and smoothes out the jacket. He looks to the left in the mirror to where Alec’s reflection stands. They make eye contact, both of them in their suited glory in front of the mirror, sharing happy, small smiles.

Alec can't help but think that he'll probably shed a tear at Magnus's sheer beauty when he's walking the aisle for Maia and Isabelle's wedding. Alec knows he'd  _ definitely _ shed some tears seeing Magnus walk down the aisle for  _ their _ wedding.

It's a thought that Alec has never had before: he wants to be the one on the other side of the aisle.

He wants to be the one that Magnus marries.

In all these years, Alec always thought his crush on Magnus was more on the superficial side which made it easy to ignore cause Magnus's interest was a big unknown and a friendship as close as theirs is absolutely not worth potentially damaging over some small feelings.

But no, Alec's feelings have been growing and growing and growing this whole time he thought he had them ignored and under control. Holy shit. Alec feels so strongly for Magnus that marriage comes to Alec's mind at the sight of both of them in suits.

Alec has no idea what his face is doing right now as he has this sudden realization but Magnus takes it as confusion. He calls over his shoulder, “Must be weird seeing me in a suit.”

Alec nods his head as if agreeing with Magnus, regardless that it's the total opposite of that.

Magnus huffs, “Not all of us can pull off run of the mill suits on a regular basis without it getting old.”

Ragnor adds to the pot, “Oh I imagine that's a look that never gets old on Mr. Long Legs over there.”

“He's a lawyer! It is  _ the _ worst.”

Alec nods his head, pretending to follow along. The rest of the tailoring session passes with him still in this daze, his mind an endless loop of “I want to marry Magnus Bane”. It's terrifying and exciting and  _ terrifying _ how one single, small thought can induce the Gay Breakdown of the century.

~~~~~

Next thing Alec knows, he’s pacing outside of Isabelle and Maia’s apartment door, arguing with himself about whether or not he should bother his sister right now. See, years ago, right after Magnus and Camille broke up, Isabelle made a comment to Alec about how maybe his crush was no longer unrequited. But Magnus had just gone through a really ugly break up and wanted his space and Alec wanted something serious so he didn’t pursue his feelings. Then they became close friends and then best friends and no time made sense anymore. How could he ask out his best friend and potentially put their whole friendship on the line?

Magnus was fully a part of Alec’s life now and he couldn’t bare to imagine a future where that wasn’t true.

So way back when, when Isabelle made that comment, Alec denied his crush and asked her to never speak of it again. Being the good sister that she is, she reminded him that he is a grown man and she wasn’t going to baby him about it so when he’s ready to talk, she’ll be there. She held true to her word, never asking Alec about it nor giving him knowing glances when he lost his attention when Magnus entered a room.

And Alec  _ knows _ that it’s three days before her wedding but he feels like he’s drowning in all of his Magnus related emotions and is finally ready to talk.

Alec knocks on the door before he can chicken out.

A couple of minutes later, a comfy clothes wearing Isabelle opens the door. She smiles as she waves him in. “Alec! How’d final the suit fittings go? Everything come out good?”

Isabelle leads Alec through the apartment with no Maia in sight and towards the living room table. There are a couple of sheets of paper spread out on the table and some pens. All Alec can make out is the first line: “my dearly beloved”.

“Wait, are you rewriting your vows to your ‘dearly beloved’ again? I told you the last one was perfection and very likely to make Maia, mom,  _ and _ Luke cry.”

Isabelle’s eyebrows pull down in confusion, she follows Alec’s line of sight to the table. “Oh, no. We’ve just been writing letters to each other about what we’re feeling in this week up to the wedding. We’re going to keep them a secret from each other, so we can open them when things get tough or on anniversaries.” Isabelle shrugs, as if this is a completely normal thing to do. He loves how open with their feelings Maia and Isabelle have become since getting together so this sappy letter writing idea is really no surprise.

“Anyways, enough deflecting with how disgustingly cute me and my ‘dearly beloved’ are. How’d it go? Did you like the suits? Jace is in love with his and almost didn’t let the tailor take it off of him - I really gotta thank Magnus again for that.”

“Absolutely terrible.”

Concern washes over Isabelle’s face and she looks ready to take on the whole world for Alec. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he prepares himself to finally acknowledge  _ it _ outloud. “I know this is incredibly bad timing with you being stressed and your wedding in three days but I’m finally ready to talk.”

Isabelle relaxes immediately, rolling her eyes at Alec’s dramatics. “Why would I be stressed? Maia’s picking out the flowers right now with Luke, our last remaining item. She still hasn’t asked if he’d walk her down the aisle before he officiates the wedding which is why she’s doing that task without me.”

“But your wedding is in three days?”

“So? Everything is taken care of, mostly thanks to you and Magnus handling all the little details and I believe in you both to take care of anything that comes up on the actual wedding day.” Isabelle pauses, her face scrunching up with over the top dramatic betrayal. “Wait, are you projecting a gendered stereotype of bridezilla on me?”

Alec takes Isabelle in now, her comfy clothes are also her pajamas and she doesn’t look tired but rather perfectly at ease. She looks like she would on any regular Wednesday night that Alec’d show up.

“Maybe… I’m sorry. Ingrained in me from society.”

Isabelle narrows her eyes for only a moment, like she’s really examining him, before grinning again. “Apology accepted. Now make me a margarita while you  _ finally _ tell me about your feelings. Is that why the suit fitting was terrible?”

Alec hears judgement in her tone but chooses to ignore it as he starts to pull together all the pieces for a margarita off her bar chart and out of the fridge. He decides to forgo the simple syrup and be lazy with triple sec instead. He focuses his attention down on the task at hand of mixing all the ingredients together which makes the words come easier.

“Isabelle, I saw him in his suit and I just… I couldn’t handle it any longer. He is the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life. He is so attractive and funny and smart and loyal and caring and moody and opinionated and I’m… I’m in love with him.”

Alec lets those words hang there in the air between them, surprised that he was even able to admit that at all. He offers Isabelle a glass now that they’re mixed, looking up for the first time. Her expression is kind but also smug. She accepts her drink eagerly.

Alec tacks on, “Iz, I saw him in his burgundy suit and pictured our wedding.”

His confession makes Isabelle choke a little on her drink as she chuckles, clearly enjoying his misery. “Ohhh you have it bad, big bro”

“So bad,” Alec agrees before taking a sip of his own drink, nodding his head that he’s satisfied with his cocktail making abilities. He looks back to her. “I gay stuttered, Iz.”

Her eyes widen and he can see the unabridged joy radiating from them. “Damn and I thought us lesbians were supposed to be the most useless ones, not you gays.”

“Gay. Stuttered,” Alec reiterates. He looks down at his drink like it has the answers he wants. “I told him he looked good! Which is true but also a drastic understatement? He looked GQ cover worthy, okay.” He looks back up, “I’m so screwed.”

Isabelle nods her head in agreement as she takes another sip of her drink.

A question comes to Alec’s mind, “Okay but if lesbians really are so useless, how did you and Maia happen so quickly after meeting then?”

“I obviously pulled a lipstick lesbian power move and kissed her after we spent the whole dinner flirting way more than any normal friends should. Then I told her there are many more kisses, late night talks, and shared meals where that came from if she was interested. It may have taken a couple more kisses for her to believe me but she did in the end. And now we’re here!” Isabelle grins triumphantly. 

She puts her drink on the table and leans towards Alec, who has yet to leave the kitchen counter. “Butches are really the most useless of queers - they can never tell when they are being hit on.”

Alec laughs, “Yeah, Maia being the useless one about feelings in the beginning… I can totally see that.”

“Hey! Leave my butch fiance alone!” Isabelle’s words hold no heat, just joy.

“Soon to be butch  _ wife _ …” Alec singsongs back.

“Yeah… my butch wife…” Isabelle’s eyes go glassy with a big smile on her lips.

Alec groans, laying his upper body across the counter now. Perhaps that extra shot of tequila wasn’t necessary if he’s already feeling the effects now after two sips. Oh well, it’s not like he drove. “I want to have what you have - so disgustingly in love.”

“Then why don’t you talk to Magnus?”

She makes it sound so simple. “What if he doesn’t like me back? And it completely destroys our friendship which in turn makes things awkward for you as his mentee.”

“What if he does like you back?” Isabelle automatically ignores the other bits of Alec’s argument, always knowing to ignore the less sensible of his complaints. “Both of you have been single for the past two years and haven’t really dated anyone. If anything, you’ve been becoming closer and closer. I dont think it’s for no reason. I think something could be there and so does Maia. But if not and all the signs were read wrong, then maybe this is what you need to finally move on from him.”

“Ugh you’re right and too sensible. You need to drink more.”

“And this is why I’m the one getting married.”

Alec leans back up at that to look at Isabelle, watching as she takes a big sip of her drink. “Sorry that your wedding is jump starting my romantic feelings for Magnus.”

“That’s fine, just please keep the dramatics about those feelings to a minimum unlike our other brother.” She dismisses Alec’s apology with one hand while the other picks up her drink again. “I mean it’s about time that Jace realized that he and Clary have mostly been together at this point out of convenience. And I can’t say I’m really surprised that he confused all his feelings about Simon as annoyance instead of attraction.”

“God I know, it was exhausting keeping track of Jace and Clary’s relationship status over the years.”

“Oh my god remember when they broke up cause you jokingly told Jace that he and Clary could be siblings?” Isabelle’s already laughing at the memory.

Alec groans as it comes back to him too now, “He was being so annoying about having siblings that  _ actually  _ loved him that I couldn’t help myself! I didn’t expect him to genuinely believe me.”

“Bless Luke for actually taking them to get their DNA checked to eliminate some of that panic you caused.”

“Still cooled their relationship for at least six months.”

“True.” Isabelle takes another big sip of her drink, eyebrows pulled in as she mulls something over. “Maybe Clary will finally go for Simon’s sister now…”

Alec lifts his free hand towards Isabelle, “Stop it - no more friendcest!”

“What?” She grins innocently. “I’m just thinking out loud… It’d keep gifting during the holidays easy. I’m always team No New Friends.”

That comment makes Alec crack up laughing, well aware that Isabelle likes to keep her friend groups tight and close. Tears form at the corner of his eyes from laughter as he imagines Isabelle screening all potential friends with an application, not letting anyone join their group until they are a good match for either Clary or Rebecca if those two don’t somehow start dating.

Once he calms down from his laughing fit, he takes a long sip of his margarita. He feels grateful to have such a caring and thoughtful sister, one that knows when to push and when not to. “Thanks Iz, for both listening and the pep talk.”

“Always. Now, try to keep your gay stuttering to a minimum when you actually talk to Magnus about your feelings.”

Alec gasps with fake outrage, “Have you seen the man? That’s highly unlikely.”

“Valid,” Isabelle agrees after thinking on it for only a moment. She playfully shoves at Alec. “Emotional bonding time between siblings is now over and it’s time for you to leave. My butch  _ fiance _ is going to be home soon and I have minimal days left to take advantage of exploring the taboo topic of premarital sex with my dearly beloved.”

Alec laughs at that mouthful, debating putting up a fight about being sexiled when he’s emotionally fragile but he decides against it. He knows Isabelle is only a little joking and she deserves as much quiet time with Maia as possible before the chaos of the big day.

Alec downs the rest of his margarita in one go, but makes sure to tease as he bids his sister goodbye. “Gross. It’s like you guys should get married or something, you love sick fools.” 

~~~~~

“Shit. Where is my veil? Shit. It has mom’s hairpin that she wore for her wedding and I want to wear something of hers today.” 

Isabelle’s voice isn’t frantic but it’s getting there as she searches through all the bags in the small room of the Institute that was specifically set aside for getting wedding ready. Alec doesn’t fault her at all either, it’s not even his wedding and he’s feeling the stress.

“Alec? Can you please run to the car and see if I left it on the seat?”

All the bridesbabes start helping look now since Isabelle is supposed to walk down an aisle in mere minutes.

With no pews in the Institute, they were able to set up the room just how Isabelle and Maia wanted. The seats are arranged in a circle pattern with three aisles made between the rows of chairs. Maia will walk to the center of the chairs from one aisle of the circle, Isabelle from the one almost opposite of it, and Madzie, in their little tux, will walk down the third and final one with their rings. 

The idea is that they enter separately but will exit together. It doesn’t force people to pick a wedding party “side”. It also means that Maia and Isabelle have coordinated their entrance to the wedding so they don’t have much wiggle room to find the missing veil.

Without even verbalizing his response, Alec nods his head and dashes out of the front door of the Institute for their parked cars.

Alec checks the car they rode in together to the venue, then their mom’s car, and even Luke’s car but so far nothing is vaguely veil related nor did Alec see it on his walk over. Fuck, Alec can’t let his sister down. He heads to their car again, realizing that he’s only a 15 minute drive from the hotel that Maia and Isabelle are staying at. He’ll just go there and pick up the veil and make it back for the ring exchange probably.

“Alec! Wait up!” Magnus’s voice calls after Alec. “Crisis has been avoided. Isabelle is going to walk with no veil.”

“What? No she can’t do that. She needs the veil - she told me to get it.” Alec unlocks the car again and opens the door. Magnus is undeterred, coming up next to Alec and the car door.

“Maia’s not wearing one either - it’s totally fine. Isabelle just told me.”

“No, you don’t understand. Isabelle doesn’t want it because it is a  _ veil _ but because the hair clip was what our mother wore on her wedding day. When Isabelle first came out, our mom was devastated, much more than she was with me, and it really hurt Isabelle. For the first year or so, they barely spoke. It got to the point where Isabelle wouldn’t come to family events unless Jace and I were there. But our mom changed, realized how wrong she was, apologized, and worked hard to be a part of Isabelle’s life. They’re closer than ever now and Isabelle wants to honor our mom by wearing something of hers at the wedding. She needs the veil, she needs that hair clip.”

Magnus is quiet with pursed lips as Alec attempts to explain the entire situation, the importance of the whole veil and what it actually means to Isabelle. Once Alec finishes, Magnus nods.“And I understand that Alec, but your mom decided to give her wedding present early since it could solve the panic very easily.” 

Alec’s hand still doesn’t leave the car handle. Magnus continues, “Maryse gifted a ring that her mother gave to her; it was the very first thing that your grandmother bought with her own, hard earned money after immigrating to the United States. Apparently it’s the only piece of jewelry that your grandmother ever gave your mom. Maryse had it resized and everything.”

Alec still doesn’t move from the car door, knowing full well exactly what ring Magnus is talking about but unsure if that’s enough. Alec’s mind is an endless loop of “Isabelle’s wedding needs to be perfect” and the veil was part of the perfect plan. Nothing else could substitute the veil and the wedding still be perfect, could it?

“No, Magnus you don’t understand. I’m getting the veil from the hotel. Isabelle’s wedding needs to be  _ perfect _ .” Alec begins to open the door, his voice conveys the anger he feels at the general annoyance of the situation.

Magnus remains calm though a bit of aggravation slips into the intonation of his words. Alec really does know Magnus well enough to tell. “In reality, Isabelle wants to wear something from your mother, which the ring solves. She cares more about her best man being there for the whole wedding than wearing a wedding custom with vaguely questionable historic significance.” 

Alec rests his head against the top of the doorframe, trying to cool his mounting frustration over the whole fiasco. He feels terribly responsible for the veil mishap as well as for the general wedding to be a success. He doesn’t mean to be short with Magnus, Alec is just mad at himself.

“Isabelle needs  _ you _ more than she needs the veil. Besides, she wants the ceremony to start any minute now so she can finally see her butch fiance in her wedding tux.” With that comment, Magnus heads back to the Institute, to leave Alec with his dilemma.

Well it isn’t really a dilemma, he just needs to accept that there will be no veil and move on. He groans, long and low. When he runs out of breath, he lifts his head feeling a little bit less doom and gloom over the whole situation. He closes the car door and locks it. Magnus makes way more sense than the anxious voice in Alec’s head that is demanding he head back to the hotel. It’s time to see his baby sister marry the love of her life and truly, Alec knows he wouldn’t want to miss a second of it for anything in the world, even a stupid veil and a self imposed attempt at perfection.

~~~~~

“My  _ wife _ and I would like to thank you all so, so much for coming to our wedding! It means a great deal that you are here to celebrate this special day with us.”

Isabelle hands the mic over to Maia, never letting go of their entangled hands. Alec loves the extra emphasis on the word wife, loves how the joy radiates from Isabelle every time she says it.

“And for those of you that ignored our request of no gifts, no money, Isabelle’s work agreed to match your donations to a charity of our choice. So thank you to everyone that helped us donate nearly $5000 to  [ Immigration Equality ](https://www.immigrationequality.org/) , an organization that represents LGBT+ and HIV+ immigrants who are seeking safety and freedom in the US!”

The whole room erupts into applause at Maia’s words, whether it’s at the total amount donated or the general principle that their money is being donated, Alec isn’t sure. He knows this was always their plan though. The honeymoon trip is part of Maia’s latest research so it’s practically free and they worked to save money to be able to afford the entirety of their wedding on their own.

“Last but not least, my  _ wife _ and I would like to acknowledge our bridal party who worked very hard to pull this wedding together, including every little detail down to the shape of the butter. We are especially grateful to our best man, Alec, and man of honor, Magnus, for taking the lead, making the most decisions, and over all, ensuring that our day was amazing and beautiful and perfect. You absolutely went above and beyond our wildest dreams and we are so thankful for you both. We love you.”

While everyone claps in agreement, Isabelle echoes Maia’s words by blowing a kiss to where Alec stands, by their mother and Luke, and then again to Magnus, who is talking to Aline and Clary. He’s leaning against the top of Clary’s chair, one leg casually propped to the side with the other, looking effortlessly calm and beautiful.

That’s when it hits Alec, he’s been so stressed out about this day that he hasn’t even taken the time to admire the beauty of Magnus in his maroon suit. Alec isn’t sure if it’s his couple of glasses of wine or the fact that he’s no longer feeling bogged down by the stress but he finally registers how amazing Magnus looks as well as the fact that Alec was excessively harsh without cause earlier.

Shit. He owes Magnus an apology at the very least if not a dance as well.

“Now, we didn’t take the mic to say the wedding is over but rather to tell you that the dance party has just begun!”

Isabelle leans into Maia’s space to add, “I better see you all on the dance floor!”

With those parting words, that could potentially be misconstrued as a threat, the mic is turned off and Madzie runs onto the dance floor in her ring bearer tux, perfectly matching her idol Maia. Madzie returns the mic to the band lead singer in the corner and the amps are raised again to dancing volume.

Now that Alec’s seen Magnus, truly  _ seen _ him, Alec can’t move his eyes away. He watches Magnus stand up and head towards the bar so Alec follows, mind made up that an apology is top on his priority list.

Alec doesn’t make his presence known until Magnus tries to pay for his drink. Alec cuts in and gives the bartender a $10. “I got this.”

Magnus looks a little startled before shaking his head with a smile, “Alec, please.”

“No.” Alec takes the change from the bartender, making sure to tip as well. Magnus and Alec head away from the bar and back towards Magnus’s table. “It’s the least I could do after all the hard work you’ve put into this wedding and how rude I was to you this morning. I’m really sorry about that, about arguing with you about the stupid veil and saying you didn’t understand.”

“I overheard my dad’s sister ask why Isabelle isn’t even marrying a  _ real _ woman because if Maia is just going to wear a tux at the wedding, then Isabelle could’ve just married a boy. It made me so, so angry that people like that are in our  _ family  _ and still came to the wedding. It skyrocketed my stress about making sure the wedding was perfect and I took some of that out on you which was unfair and I am sorry.”

They stop just next to the table that Magnus was talking to Clary and Aline at, he smiles at Alec. “I can’t say I blame you, I probably would’ve done the same thing if our roles were reversed. That’s awful to hear and I understand how that can add to your stress. Apology accepted.”

The soft lighting from the Institute causes Magnus’s eyes to shimmer, almost looking golden yellow like a cats. His cheeks are flushed and his lips look so red and inviting. Alec doesn’t want their time together to end just yet. In the back of his mind, he registers the drummer start up a new song in the background but this one is a much slower tempo that Alec is pretty sure he can manage without making a fool of himself. He can even see Jace and Simon slow dancing on the floor already, it gives Alec the extra boost of courage he needs.

“Want to dance?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Alexander,” Magnus teases as he puts his drink down on the table. He offers one hand up for Alec’s and the other goes around his waist.

Alec mimics the pose easily and lets himself be guided gently towards the dance floor. “I can’t believe I became more of a bridezilla today than either of the two  _ actual _ brides. I hope I’m not that bad on my actual wedding day.”

Magnus sets the pace for them and the slower song. It’s not really dancing, more like gentle swaying in circles with their arms around each other. It’s Alec’s specialty and allows him the opportunity to unabashedly admire Magnus from up close. After somehow being woefully blind to him today, Alec will ensure he appreciates the opportunity as much as he can now.

“I highly doubt you will be. You always hold yourself to such a higher standard for those you care the most for than you do to yourself. The frills and music and making everyone follow a strict schedule won’t matter to you. I’m sure you’ll be like Isabelle and Maia at their core, just wanting the people you love surrounding you as you celebrate something really special and embark on a new chapter of your life.”

What Magnus says sounds so simple and yet captures exactly how Alec feels deep in his soul when he thinks of his wedding. He never ceases to be amazed by just how much he feels understood to his very essence by Magnus.

Alec lets out a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing completely, and he just feels so settled and at peace here, in Magnus’s arms as they move to some song. Alec can’t think of any place he’d rather be and no person he’d rather be with. 

“I love you.”

Magnus laughs softly to himself, his eyes incredibly kind and beautiful as he maintains eye contact with Alec, unphased by his confession. “I love you too.”

Alec realizes then that Magnus doesn’t  _ really _ get it for this is just something they say back and forth to each other, doesn’t get that Alec means it romantically, not just platonically. He feels brave, perhaps it’s from the strength of love that Luke spoke about in his officiant script or just the love that both Isabelle and Maia talked about in their vows or perhaps, it’s just because it’s  _ Magnus _ and Alec is tired of ignoring the way he really and truly feels for Magnus.

The song slowly ends and Alec stops in his movements, halting them at the end of the dance floor and in the corner of the Institute. He knows this is important and something he needs to get across.

“No. I’m  _ in love _ with you, Magnus. And I have been for a long time.”

Magnus’s smile in response is absolutely blinding, brighter than all the lights in the whole Institute combined, probably even brighter than the sun herself. The butterflies in Alec’s stomach have turned into a stampeding herd and he feels so extremely honored to be on the receiving end of that smile.

“I’m in love with you  _ too, _ Alexander.”

Alec is completely unprepared to hear those words echoed back to him by Magnus. It almost doesn’t feel real, like maybe he drank too much wine and fell asleep in a corner somewhere. Alec brings his hands up to Magnus’s face, holding him so gently, trying to make sure this is not a dream. Magnus responds by grabbing Alec’s lapels and pulling him forward, kissing him firm and hard and beautifully. It’s everything that Alec never knew he was missing and more. He kisses back with everything he has, angling his head to the side to deepen the kiss.

“This is real,” Magnus whispers when they break apart for air, his forehead resting against Alec’s. He must have said that last thought out loud. He isn’t embarrassed in the slightest.

They are both out of breathe when Magnus pulls away more and Alec grins in triumph at their similar reactions to their kiss. Magnus’s eyes watch Alec’s for a moment, clearly searching for something but he doesn’t know what exactly. He waits Magnus out, knowing he’ll ask if it really is important.

“Why? Why now?”

It’s a simple and logical question, especially after years of pining and ignoring feelings and almost opportunities. Alec’s hands slide down Magnus’s neck and under the collar of his suit, wanting to feel the solidness of him. 

“This dumb maroon jacket.”

Magnus tilts his head, his smile amused and general expression adorable. Alec continues, attempting to justify himself, “You’ve always been the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen but then I saw you in this dumb jacket and I couldn’t stop imagining other scenarios in which you’d wear this outfit… other scenarios like  _ our _ wedding.”

Magnus’s grin doubles as he rights his head, pecking Alec’s lips quickly. “Oh yeah? Now you know how I feel every time you dress extra nice for court. Sometimes I have to even leave the room.”

“That time I said I was too sick to continue to go out on Halloween was actually because you were so fucking hot in your mermaid outfit and I didn’t think I could go the whole night without touching your chest so I went back home.”

“What!” Magnus looks positively gleeful at this reveal.

Alec grins back, truly feeling on top of the world. “Oh yeah, I’m truly a useless gay.”

“Apparently I’m a useless bi.”

“Maybe we’re both useless.”

“Eh, we’re doing something now though.” 

“And I wanna keep doing something…” Alec says earnestly, conveying that this is way, way more than just a one time tipsy, heat of the wedding moment sort of thing for him.

“Oh yeah?” Magnus’s expression looks so hopeful and Alec never wants it to leave.

“Yeah, but maybe without this dumb suit,” Alec articulates his point by drumming his fingers on Magnus’s shoulders.

“Hey, I look damn good in this dumb suit.”

Alec agrees without a single complain in opposition, as stated earlier, it is literally the reason they are having this moment at all. The reason that he finally acknowledged his feelings at all. “Oh I am well aware you do but it’s haunted me enough for one night.” 

“Only fair if you take yours off too…”

“Well good thing that’s kinda where I’m headed with this,” Alec says with a grin, feeling childishly carefree and happy, so so happy.

Magnus’s answering laugh just makes the warmth in Alec grow. “I can’t wait for Maia to tease us for sharing an anniversary with them.”

Alec fake groans, “Yeah we’re gonna have to change that or they’ll never let us live it down.”

“I think I can handle that.”

It’s a simple reassurance but it means so much to Alec, it feels weighted in promise that they both see a long, hopeful future for them. Alec knows this is only the beginning, but he can’t help but feel that even with probably a quarter of what Isabelle feels for Maia, he finally understands Isabelle’s unabashed lovesick fool ways and sappy letter writing to her dearly beloved.

He promises back, “Then I can too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank u and love u and would love to kno ur feels!!!


End file.
